Guide
How to check a private eye clinic and the surgeon operating
Updated
You can verify a private eye provider before you pay a deposit, using public registers. None of this requires a phone call, and it takes about ten minutes.
Ask for prices Answer a few questions and private eye clinics and hospitals will price your case directly. Free, no obligation.
Start with the regulator for the nation you are treated in
In England the Care Quality Commission is the regulator, and CQC's guidance states that it is the legal entity carrying on the regulated activity that must register, not the location where it is carried out (CQC, who has to register, page last updated 29 January 2025). CQC's public search covers hospitals and clinics and carries inspection reports and ratings, so you can read what inspectors found rather than what the marketing says (find care services).
- Wales: Healthcare Inspectorate Wales
- Scotland: Healthcare Improvement Scotland
- Northern Ireland: Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority
Then look up the person, not just the building
Cataract surgery is done by a consultant ophthalmologist. The General Medical Council keeps the public register of doctors in the UK, which shows a doctor's registration status, whether they hold a licence to practise, and whether they are on the specialist register and in which specialty. Search the register on the GMC's own website using the doctor's name or GMC number, and check the specialty matches the operation you are being offered.
The Private Healthcare Information Network is a second, independent place to look. PHIN describes itself as a government-mandated, industry-certified independent organisation publishing information about the safety, quality and costs of private healthcare, and its search covers consultants and hospitals by area.
What to ask that a register cannot tell you
- Ask who will actually perform the operation, by name, and whether that is guaranteed or a team allocation.
- Ask how many cataract procedures that surgeon does in a typical year, and what happens if a complication needs a second procedure.
- Ask where you would be treated if something went wrong out of hours, and whether the site has on-site cover.
- Ask for the price basis in writing, including the lens, before paying anything.
We do not rank surgeons or hospitals and we will not tell you who is best. We are not qualified to, and nobody selling you an introduction is either. Registers, inspection reports and your own questions are better evidence than any league table.